European journal of emergency medicine : official journal of the European Society for Emergency Medicine
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Admission with severe sepsis is associated with an increased short-term mortality, but it is unestablished whether sepsis severity has an impact on intermediate-term and long-term mortality following admission to an acute medical admission unit. ⋯ Patients admitted with community-acquired sepsis showed high intermediate-term mortality, increasing with sepsis severity. Long-term mortality was increased two-fold compared with sepsis-free individuals, but might be explained by unmeasured confounding. Further, long-term mortality was unrelated to sepsis severity.
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Urine cultures obtained by bladder catheterization can be contaminated by bacteria colonizing the distal urethra. Data are inconclusive regarding the potential advantage of discarding the first few urine drops obtained by bladder catheterization and testing only the sample of late-stream urine, thus reducing the likelihood of urine culture contamination. ⋯ When obtaining urine cultures by bladder catheterization in children younger than 2 years, discarding the first few urine drops and using only the late stream for culture reduces false-positive culture results and improves the accuracy of urinary tract infection diagnosis.
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Use of automated systems to aid identification of patient deterioration in routine hospital practice is limited and their impact on patient outcomes remains unclear. This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of implementing an electronic observation chart with automated early warning score (EWS) calculation in the high-acuity area of an emergency department. ⋯ In this study, the feasibility and limitations of implementing an electronic observation chart in the ED were demonstrated. Accurate EWS documentation was more frequent after implementation of the electronic observation chart. Retrospective analysis suggests that the use of an electronic observation system may lead to a greater percentage of observations being taken from those patients with a higher EWS.
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Comparative Study
Prehospital management and outcome of avalanche patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a retrospective study in Tyrol, Austria.
The aim of this study is to describe the prehospital management and outcome of avalanche patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Tyrol, Austria, for the first time since the introduction of international guidelines in 1996. ⋯ CPR is continued to hospital admission in patients with short burial and asphyxial cardiac arrest, but withheld or terminated at the scene in patients with long burial and possible hypothermic cardiac arrest. Insufficient transfer of information from the accident site to the hospital may partially explain the poor outcome of avalanche victims with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest treated with emergency cardiac care.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Duplex ultrasound in the early diagnosis of acute mesenteric ischemia: a longitudinal cohort multicentric study.
Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a life-threatening condition requiring time-dependent treatment; thus, early recognition may improve outcomes. We hypothesized that clinician-performed mesenteric vessels duplex ultrasound (DUS) could facilitate early identification of patients with AMI in high-risk patients presenting with abdominal pain. ⋯ In this single-operator pilot study, mesenteric vessel DUS was performed successfully in the Emergency Department, with a high proportion of diagnostic images obtained. A normal SMA PSV was associated with a low risk of occlusive AMI.